Video: Aussie detained in Bali after causing airport chaos

Screenshot from a video showing Gregory Butler (left) standing on the outer edge of a ledge at Bali airport.

An Australian man was detained for creating a scene at Bali’s international airport on Tuesday (July 18), shouting and screaming as he stood on the narrow outer edge of a ledge in the departure hall.

After a 90-minute standoff near the Coffee Club outlet, the man, identified as 46-year-old Gregory Butler, was wrestled back to safety by another man who had tried to negotiate with him.

As he was taken away by authorities last night, Butler told reporters he had never intended to jump from the ledge.

“I didn’t want to jump. I was standing on the edge. Would you jump?” Butler was quoted by Perth Now as saying.

Instead, he suggested that he had been trying to highlight corrupt Australian government officials.

“I wanted to bring attention to (a) certain situation regarding government officials. That’s why I thought I could do it,” Butler reportedly said.

Authorities later said that anti-depressants had been found in Butler’s bag and he had been taken to hospital for medical psychiatric tests.

Butler had reportedly also caused the cancellation of an AirAsia flight on Monday.

Airport officials said Butler had been on flight AK379 from Denpasar to Kuala Lumpur on Monday night. As the plane was taxiing, Butler reportedly knocked on the cockpit door, saying someone wanted to kill him.

The pilot decided to turn back and the flight was cancelled. Butler was kept overnight at the airport authority office for investigations.–

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Source: Agencies/am

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